The situation in Cuba remains intense. As I reported last week, the regime has announced that is has no oil or reserves. Major protests have broken out, and the regime is cutting lines of communication in an attempt to prevent the outside world from seeing the truth. The number of political prisoners detained is at an all-time high. The U.S. is trying to bring in humanitarian aid through the Catholic Church. Rubio has heavily sanctioned GAESA, the apparatus that basically controls half of the country's "economy" and makes the regime wealthy. The CIA director paid a visit last week and made what sounded like some final warnings on behalf of Donald Trump. And old Raúl Castro may be less than a week away from becoming a U.S. fugitive from justice, if a grand jury gets it right.
(Read more on my most recent update here: Cuba Falling: There's a Lot Going On Right Now. This Could Be the Breaking Point.)
But wait, there's more. There's always more.
Cuba's "president" Miguel Díaz-Canel has been mouthing off about how the Cuban people are poised and ready to defend the homeland and that any military intervention from the United States will lead to a nasty war and many casualties because the Cubans will fight and... well, you get the idea. It's the same nonsense Nicolás Maduro spewed for months before Delta Force swooped down and got him in a matter of hours in January, no U.S. lives lost.
Now, Axios is reporting that, according to classified intelligence that the media outlet was supposedly granted access to, "Cuba has acquired more than 300 military drones and recently began discussing plans to use them to attack the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, U.S. military vessels and possibly Key West, Fla., 90 miles north of Havana."
Here's more:
Cuba has been acquiring attack drones of 'varying capabilities' from Russia and Iran since 2023, and has stashed them in strategic locations across the island, U.S. officials say.
Within the past month, Cuban officials have sought more drones and military equipment from Russia, the senior U.S. official said. The official cited intelligence intercepts that also indicated Cuban intelligence officials are trying to learn about how Iran has resisted us.'
Russia and China have high-tech espionage facilities for collecting 'signals intelligence' (called SIGINT) in Cuba.
'We've long been concerned that a foreign adversary using that kind of location that close to our shores is highly problematic,' Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, a Miami Republican, during a congressional hearing Tuesday.
Cuba's relationship with foreign U.S. adversaries, like Russia, Iran, and China, and its proximity to our coast — 90 miles from Florida — has been a hot topic of conversation lately and the basis for the threats, sanctions, and tariffs the Trump administration has been using to squeeze the regime since January. This basically validates all of that.
According to Axios, "The intelligence — which could become a pretext for U.S. military action — shows the degree to which the Trump administration sees Cuba as a threat because of developments in drone warfare and the presence of Iranian military advisers in Havana, a senior U.S. official said."
That said, Axios also reports that "U.S. officials also don't believe Cuba is as much of a military threat as it was during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis." One U.S. official apparently pointed out that it's not even clear that the regime has any fighter jets that can actually fly.
On Sunday morning, the Cuban embassy released the following statement on social media:
Like any country, Cuba has the right to defend itself against external aggression. It is called self-defense, and it is protected by International Law and the UN Charter.
Those from the U.S. who seek the submission and, in fact, the destruction of the Cuban nation through military aggression and war, do not waste a single moment fabricating pretexts, creating and spreading falsehoods, and distorting as extraordinary the logical preparation required to face a potential aggression.
Over the weekend, the Vatican — fresh off a visit from Marco Rubio, where Cuba was, apparently, a main topic of discussion — held its first ever "Holy Mass for Peace and Development in Cuba."
"We deeply appreciate the historic first Holy Mass for Peace and Development in #Cuba, celebrated at the Church of San Ignacio de Loyola in Rome," Díaz-Canel posted on X. "In this space of faith, it was reaffirmed that Cuba is a solidarity-driven, peaceful, sovereign, and independent nation, which in no way poses a threat to the national security of any other country. As a people, we claim our right to live in peace, free from threats of military aggression and in full respect for human dignity."
The regime is getting religious. Where have I heard that one before? Oh yeah, in November, when we were squeezing Maduro, he suddenly turned to religion as well, holding "prayer meetings for peace" and declaring that Jesus is actually the "lord and master of Venezuela," not Maduro.
Related: Maduro’s Backup Plan? Jesus, Apparently
The two countries' situations aren't the same at all, but the dictatorships are following the same playbook. We've apparently reached the religious portion of the fall of communism.
In other news that just broke as I'm writing this, CMA CGM (France) and Hapag-Lloyd (Germany), two of the world's biggest shippers, have suspended all booking to and from Cuba until further notice, citing the threat of U.S. sanctions. This could jeopardize up to 60% of the island's shipping volume. Goods from China would reportedly be most impacted.
In the meantime, the Cuban people continue to take to the streets to protest against the regime, as they're now suffering from blackouts that last days, in some cases. Something I find particularly significant is that they're not just doing it at night now — they're losing their fear and showing their faces in broad daylight more and more frequently.
URGENTE 🚨🇨🇺 Están bloqueando las calles en señal de protesta en la capital cubana y entre ellos niños
— Javi🇨🇺 (@JaviXCubaLibre) May 15, 2026
Cuba 🇨🇺 pic.twitter.com/Gylbzcaagt
They're even blocking streets and throwing things at patrol cars. These people have had enough:
🚨
— MARI@ REGLA 🇪🇸💚🇨🇺 (@Maria_Regla77) May 15, 2026
Los cubanos se están calentando a piedras y palos a los coches de patrullas‼️ #AbajoLaDictadura 🇨🇺pic.twitter.com/6XE30kObTk
The end is getting closer.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.
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